The national representative for Santa Fe Monica Fein claimed the completion of the works on the National Flag Monument and said that it is about “a national shame.” Accompanied by fellow socialist legislator Clara García, the former mayor of Rosario recalled that the work began with her administration and is still unfinished.
In dialogue with Radio 2, at the moment before the start of the event for Flag Day, which took place as a stage for the memory dedicated to the national flag this Thursday morning, Fein summarized with that phrase the beginnings and suspension of the work announced in 2015 as “the enhancement” of the building inaugurated on June 20, 1957, designed by architects Ángel Guido and Alejandro Bustillo.
Although the national representative highlighted that between the national and provincial governments “there is dialogue”, He also noted that There are “pending issues” that affect the city.
“As Rosarinos, we continue to ask for answers about peace, security and recovering this Monument that I began to value and that is still pending. A national shame,” she stated.
Fein also pointed out that the claim for “transport subsidies and the Fonin” continues, and said that the province of Santa Fe “provides many resources that should return.”
The delayed restoration
The announcement of the restoration work on the National Flag Monument was made in 2015, during the presidency of Cristina Kirchner. Then, the national leader announced the call for bids for the works aimed at enhancing the building’s value. However, the jobs accumulate nine years of announcements and another seven of unfinished works.
A year later, then-president Mauricio Macri announced a cooperation agreement between the Municipality of Rosario and the Nation to carry out the works. It was reported that, of the 134,567,995 pesos investment that contemplated the work, the Ministry of the Interior would contribute just over 94 million, 70 percent.
He work plan contemplated a start of works in May 2017, with an estimated term of 18 months. However, the works were stopped when only 35 percent of the total had been executed due to the national government’s lack of payment to the company that had won the tender. By January 2019, the budget was cut by almost half: it was reduced to 74 million from the more than 134 announced.
In his second month in office, within the framework of the ceremony at the Monument for the 208 years of the creation of the national flag, Alberto Fernández promised to finish the works. In March 2020, isolation due to the pandemic stopped work again. In September of that year, the scaffolding was removed from the workshop that covered the main nave of the building, but the work was not completed.
At the beginning of 2023, the works restarted, after the award by the national government. In March 2024, the last stoppage of the works occurred: the company Dyscon SA, which had won the tender and started the work, withdrew from the workshop due to lack of payments.
Last May, the resumption of negotiations had generated expectations that, by June 20, the restoration of the Monument would see its works restarted.
